GA Coronavirus: Schools To Focus On Prevention, Cases Increase

GEORGIA — Georgia Schools Superintendent Richard Woods commends Fulton County Schools' decision to close all schools on Tuesday, but said other districts do not need to follow that example right now. As of Tuesday morning, there are six presumed positive cases of the coronavirus, and 11 confirmed cases of the disease in Georgia, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.

Among those cases is a Fulton County Schools employee who tested positive for coronavirus, causing the district to close all schools on Tuesday, with additional closures to be determined this afternoon, school officials said Monday.

The employee, who is being treated at a local hospital, felt sick on Friday, Looney said, and had direct contact with multiple students at the two middle schools. 911 was called and the teacher was taken to a hospital. There is no information on how the teacher contracted coronavirus, Looney said.

"We support this decision and thank Superintendent Mike Looney for his leadership and for taking care to ensure students’ safety," Woods said in a statement Tuesday. "We are advising all Georgia school districts to continue following the guidance of the Georgia Department of Public Health and their local boards of health. At this time, school closures are not recommended for other areas."

All school districts should continue to take preventative measures, including providing ample time for students and staff to wash their hands and developing plans to continue student learning should a school district need to close for several days, Woods said.

Health officials urge parents to keep children who are sick at home.

"Teach your children to wash their hands with soap and water for 20 seconds and to stay at least three feet away from people who are sick," Woods said. "Georgians can be confident the safety of our students is our first priority. I thank Gov. Kemp for acting proactively to protect all Georgians. We will continue to work closely with him and with Public Health to ensure schools have the most up-to-date information, resources, and support regarding COVID-19.”

The district said it immediately dismissed affected schools on Monday: Bear Creek Middle School, Woodland Middle School and Creekside High School.

The high school was closed Monday due to its proximity to the middle schools, the shared staff members between the schools and families with students in both schools.

"This closure will allow us to clean and sanitize affected schools as well as share additional details of our ongoing plan," Fulton County school officials said in a statement. "Updates regarding this concern will be shared via additional emails and the district website."

The district said it is implementing aspects of its pandemic plan for students, employees and families as follows:

• Identification and notification of affected schools, families and employees
• School/building closures will be communicated
• Testing will be performed in coordination with the CDC and Health Department
• Safety precautions including cleaning and sanitizing

All extracurricular activities are also closed until Tuesday. Looney said the district will make a decision by 5 p.m. on Tuesday if additional closures need to happen.

A digital learning plan will not go into effect until three consecutive days of closures, Looney said.

More Potential GA Coronavirus Cases Brings Total To 17

The Georgia Department of Public Health is awaiting confirmatory testing on the four new presumptive positive tests for COVID-19 in the Georgia residents. Testing was completed Sunday at the Georgia Public Health Laboratory and the results have been submitted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for verification.

One person is from Fulton County, another person is from Cherokee County, and the other two individuals are from Cobb County, but they have no connection to each other. All the individuals are hospitalized, and the sources of their infections are not known, the Georgia Department of Public Health.

With the addition of these four presumptive positive cases of COVID-19, there are now 11 presumptive positives pending confirmatory testing by CDC and six confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Georgia.

The most recent confirmed cases were in Cobb, Fulton and Floyd counties, while a sixth case in Gwinnett County is presumed positive for the respiratory disease, but still awaiting confirmation.

Globally, more than 116,000 people have been infected and more than 4,000 people have died from the new coronavirus, Johns Hopkins reported Tuesday morning. Of that total, more than 80,000 confirmed cases are in China, while the entire United States has 761 confirmed cases as of Tuesday morning. There have been 27 deaths in the U.S. have been tied to the virus outbreak.

A total of 34 Georgians and other Americans aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship currently quarantined off the coast of California due to the new coronavirus will be transferred to an airbase in Marietta, Georgia, according to Gov. Brian Kemp.

There is no evidence of community spread of coronavirus in Georgia at this time, health officials said.

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